SA wins both, boys’, girls’ International Padel Federation

By NATION REPORTER

SOUTH Africa dominated the International Padel Federation (FIP) Promises tournament held in Zambia by winning both the boys' and girls' Under-16 and Under-18 categories at Summit Sports Arena in Lusaka's Makeni area.

The three-day junior international tournament which ran from June 5 to 7 brought together young athletes from Zambia, Lebanon, South Africa, France, Spain, Pakistan, Great Britain, Botswana, Kenya and Canada.

The event marked a major milestone for the growth of padel in the country as it was the first time Zambia hosted the FIP Promises tournament and only the third time the competition has been staged in Africa.

Padel is a fast-growing racket sport that combines elements of tennis and squash played on an enclosed court with walls that remain in play.

Despite South Africa's dominance, Zambia registered encouraging results, with the Under-16 girls reaching the final before losing to South Africa.

The Zambian boys’ Under-18 team managed a semi-finals berth in a competition also won by South Africa.

Summit Sports co-founder Hussein Ahmad said the tournament provided valuable lessons for the country's young players.

Ahmad said that the club will therefore embark on a countrywide Talent search especially in underprivileged communities as part of efforts to grow the sport in Zambia.

"We have an academy that is running and within this academy we are conducting a nationwide talent search targeting underprivileged children.  They will be brought to Lusaka next month for intensive training.

We will identify one boy and one girl and fully sponsor them through the academy, including training and travel costs, if they develop into players we want," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the tournament has shown that Zambia still has ground to cover to match countries with a longer history in the sport

He however noted that progress is being made made to match countries like South Africa.

"The tournament showed us that in terms of the level of padel, we are not yet there, but we are headed in the right direction. The future of padel in Zambia is very bright. The local players may have struggled to perform at their usual level because of the pressure of competing at home but expressed confidence that they would continue improving. We are catching up slowly and steadily to countries that have been playing padel for a long time, such as South Africa," Ahmad said.

Meanwhile, Zambian participant Adam Sofiaddine praised the standard of competition and organisation of the tournament.

"The tournament was quite competitive and very well organised. We hope to qualify for the continental finals in December this year. The Zambian team will work on improving its performance ahead of future competitions.

"We did not get as far as we expected, but we have identified areas that need improvement. Hopefully when we travel to the next tournament, we will be able to perform better and compete for victory," he said.